Return
by Miyano Ran
Summary: It has been ten years... ten years since Edogawa Conan and Haibara Ai disappeared.


Disclaimer: I don't own DC. =)

Author's Note: Ok… although honestly, right now I'm having the WORST vertigo in my life… and I should be sleeping soon since I'll be going on a family trip tomorrow… and I have to wake up at like, 6 am… *groan* and if I finish this fic at like 12 plus… then I'd get at most 6 hours of sleep… *sighs* But anyway, haven't written in a long time, and although this isn't much, I just want to share this little story idea to you guys… =) and I think my writing has gotten much worse since before due to lack of practice… haha, it's already a miracle that I'm speaking in straight English… since, I usually mix that with other languages in my everyday life :P Shortest story =) …and might not make sense…

Rated K+

Genre: Tragedy

**Return**

It has been ten years…

Ten years since the day Haibara Ai and Edogawa Conan disappeared…

_Flashback…_

"_It's all over…" Conan exhaled with relief. "…finally." He looked forlornly at the distorted façade of Tokyo Tower… no, the structure wasn't even visible anymore, only shattered glass, debris, smoke, and death… was evident. He looked at Haibara. She just stood there._

"_You know… the Boss is not yet captured." She reminded him, carrying fear in her eyes._

"_He will be soon, though." Conan said as he made a small smile._

_Then, suddenly, sound of footsteps was heard…_

"_Akai?" Haibara gasped as she spun around, feeling his presence._

"_Kudo-san, Miyano-san, you can't return to your normal lives… you're a witness of this… and there are still other members on the loose, and it would be too risky… and…"_

"_Get to the point, Akai." Haibara said with a frown._

"_I suggest you two join the FBI." Akai Shuichi said calmly, although, this statement shocked the two._

_Conan and Haibara gaped at him._

"_Why?" Conan asked._

"_First of all, we find it safe to say that you two will be helpful in the FBI… Miyano-san with the sciences… and for Kudo-san… he'll be a good sleuth." He explained. "And, both of you are not safe. After this catastrophe, everyone here already knows your true identities… even that girl Mouri Ran knows all about this, and although Gin and the other members are captured already, the others aren't yet. So, you would be like preys just waiting to be caught." Looking at Haibara, he said. "Plus, I believe you haven't found the antidote for your current state… and I am sure you would be very delighted to know that we have a lead…"_

"_A lead, you say?" Haibara gawked once more. Her eyes pleaded him to tell her more of it._

"_Although most of the discs that contain the formula to the cure from the organization's headquarters are password protected, we've found out that one of the mails of Akemi contain the full formula of the APTX 4869 drug."_

_Haibara was shocked. Did she hear him right? Akemi… her sister?! Her sister's mail?! Then, she remembered… Indeed she mailed Akemi the formula of the APTX… but she died long ago… so, she never thought of it._

"_Neechan's mail… you knew…?" Haibara asked._

"_I know her password. We were lovers before, remember?" Akai said while shrugging his shoulders._

"_Okay… so… back with the FBI?" Conan said, making them get back on topic._

"_The FBI wants you to join…and you'd be under the witness protection program… things can't go back like how they used to. Your identities… are exposed… and everything that transpired now will be in the news headlines by first thing tomorrow. You have to go in hiding." Akai explained._

_Conan turned around and looked at Ran lying down on a stretcher, being pushed inside an ambulance. Scars and blood stained her pulchritude. He knew that she knows everything there is to know. And, there's no turning back. _

_While walking away with Haibara and Akai, he whispered with eyes that screamed eternal desolation. "I'll miss you… Ran. I love you."_

_Without turning back, Haibara shut her eyes. _

"_You love her… Kudo, I know, but it's time to move on. There's no turning back."_

_End of Flashback_

Now, Edogawa Conan, 19 years old, sat on a couch inside the FBI's headquarters.

After ten long years, the antidote, unfortunately still hasn't been made. Apparently, the information inside Akemi's mailbox contained everything about APTX… except… for the very vital, missing piece of the puzzle. It didn't contain the name of the plant from which Haibara got the most important chemical for the rate of mitosis in the cell to slow down. This was the most important key to finding the antidote.

But still, Miyano Shiho did not lose hope. She gave all her lab rats the APTX drug and shrunk all of them; sadly, some of the younger ones couldn't take it and died. Everyday she tried her best to get the right formula, yet, whenever she tried it on the shrunken lab rats in the FBI, it either worked but… only for a few weeks… they would either die after that or shrink again. Other tries brought her to rapid reproduction instead. Increase number of rat babies happened because the drug manipulated the meiosis process. Every time she tried, there was always a lacking or excess component… and if the antidote worked successfully, there would always be side effects… like a terminal illness, or an appearance of a tumor or an excess body part. Sometimes, things turned out outrageous and rats formed two heads… looking like aliens.

But then, recently, Conan received awful news that Ran, now 29 years old, attained breast cancer. She was so weak now. She took chemotherapy once in a while and she always cried alone in her hospital room due to self-pity. Conan knew this because of other members of the FBI spied on her every once in a while for Conan and told him about her well-being. Conan always pleaded others to check on her for him, Haibara knew this. But, in truth, Conan hasn't seen her for ten years, he only saw her through videos the other FBI members took for him to see through the spy cams, and heard reports about what she did everyday. He missed and longed for her.

But, after hearing this devastating news about Ran's illness, he couldn't take it any longer. He had to see her. If he didn't, he would crumble inside and his heart would melt like a candle.

One night, he planned to see Ran in Beika Hospital.

Rna hasn't heard any news from Kudo Shinichi or Conan Edogawa or Haibara Ai for ten years… so she would think of the most rational explanation. He died. And she knew Shinichi and Conan are one.

Conan just wanted to sneak in and get a glimpse of her… and he could be satisfied. The agony in his heart was so deep that no one can ever comprehend. Not being able to unite with his love one forever… the greatest tragedy of all. His wounded heart was too painful, it may never heal. Yet, he was grateful to his best friend Haibara, who was always there to comfort him.

Then, at that night, Haibara discovered his plan and she instantly forbid him to go.

"Please, Haibara?" Conan begged.

'It's too risky, what if she sees you? What if the other members of the organization see us? The FBI headquarters is our only sanctuary now for the past ten years, if it weren't for Akai inviting us over, we would have been dead by now. Once we go out of these protected walls… our safety will continue to stay unsure…"

"But, she's got cancer!" Conan wailed. "You understand me, right? I know the risks… but I have to see her!! Just once…"

"Remember what Akai told us back then, Kudo? There's no returning… not now…"

"Please." Conan said in a stern voice. It wasn't a request, it sounded like a command.

"But…"

"Please."

"No. I won't let you do something so stupid! I care for Mouri-san as well, but…"

"I beg you."

"No."

"I don't need your permission, I'm going."

"No!!" She yelled as he ran past her, pushing her away. The door banged with a close, he was gone.

But Haibara decided to follow him; this was for his safety.

_I'm returning to you… Ran… even just a glimpse of you… _Conan thought while running towards Ran's hospital room.

Haibara followed discreetly from behind.

Luckily, the door was unlocked. Conan turned the knob and the door opened ajar.

There… after ten long years… he finally saw Ran in person again. There she laid, so feeble and so weak… her room was dark and only the moonlight allowed him to see her face. Her face…

She looked so ill, tired… and… lifeless?!

Did he see right? Was it just his imagination playing? Was she dead?!

He didn't know.

She might be so sick that she looked died but wasn't. He needed to know the answer.

He walked towards her and grabbed her wrist as she was asleep …and felt her pulse.

Haibara peeped through the door and smiled.

"You still love her, Kudo… even after all these years with me."

Conan put down her wrist and sighed in relief. At last, he spoke.

"Ran."

And then he smiled.

He didn't notice, but the one behind the door did, she saw that she smiled, too, and a tear fell from her face.

**~END~**

Please review! =)

Time Started: 12:53 AM Saturday May 1, 2010

Time Ended: 2:17 AM Saturday May 1, 2010


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